Aligning and racket stringing device



May 9, 1939. F. T. LEE Er AL 2,157,616

ALIGNING AND RACKET STRINGING DEVICE I Original Filed July 12, 1953 INVESTORS FILEMUN T. LEE BY ALEXANDER I]. HENRY ATTORNEY.

Tatented May 9 1939 2,157,616 ALIGNING AND RACKET STRINGING DEVICE Filemon T. Lee and Alexander D. Henry, San Francisco, Calif.

Application July 12, 1933, Serial Renewed June 13, 1938 10 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to improvements in tennis racket stringing and aligning devices and has particular vice of this character that reference to a demay be employed in properly aligning and stringing such rackets so as to provide a balanced racket. A properly balanced racket is one that is longitudinal axis that exten and the oval frame.

balanced about its ds through the handle An object of our invention is to provide a tennis racket stringing device in a slightly crooked handle which a racket having can be properly centered without placing a strain on the racket throat.

exposes the head so that the stringing operation can be carried on unhindered. Novel means is also provided in the head the oval is accurately Still a further object lies thin metal base which the longitudinal strings are for checking whether formed.

in the provision of a will be flexed slightly when placed in the oval due to the pull of the strings slightly shortening the length of the oval.

The flexed base will exert a yielding force against the oval and tend to return it to normal position cross strings.

A still further object of vide a novel chuck mechani during the putting in of the the invention is to prosm in which the jaws thereof are slightly tiltable in a horizontal and vertical plane. Each jaw adjusted to take care of a not in alignment with the o A still further object of provide a device of the 01 positive in action, simple that may be manufactured can be independently racket handle that is val.

the invention is to ass described that is in construction, and

at a nominal cost.

Our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application,

in which Figure l is a top plan view of the device;

Figure 2 is a side elevatio Figure 3 is an end eleva n of the device; tion of the device as Figure 5 is an enlarged the line 55 of Figure 1.

sectional detail along In carrying out our invention, we provide an elongated cast metallic base 5 having an end bead 7, opposite narrowed end 8 and side beads 9 and 58, said base being bolted or otherwise secured to the end of a tab as disclosed in Figures 1 an 1e or work bench H, d 2.

of the base is mounted and the opposite end 8 an oval centering clamp The handle chuck i2 is mounted on a U-shaped 5 supporting bracket l4 securely bolted to the base 6, as indicated in Figures 2 and 4, said chuck embodying chuck jaws l5 and l 6 loosely receiving adjusting chuck jaw screws I1 and I8 tapped through the side supports 19 and 2t] and having mounted on their outer ends hand wheels 2! and 22, the jaws of said chuck being tiltable horizontally and vertically relative to the adjusting screws ll and 18 for the purpose hereinafter set forth. The jaws I5 and [6 are independently adjustable in order to clamp a handle should the handle be slightly out of line with the oval frame. The chuck jaws can swing into angular positions and still grip the handle and this relieves any strain on the throat of the racket should the 20 handle not be in accurate alignment with the oval.

Fixedly mounted on the base 6 and centrally thereof below the chuck jaws is the handle centering device 23, which device normally centers the handle 24 of the racket Figure 1.

The oval clamp mechanism I3 is mounted on the extreme end 8 of the base 6 and embodies a rigid supporting bracket 26 having arranged in its upper end an oval retaining segment 27 corresponding to the contour of the outer end of the oval 28 of the racket 25. This oval segment 21 permits the oval frame 23 to be checked to see whether it is accurate. If the ends of the segment equally slope away from the inner edge of the oval 28, the contour of the oval is accurate, if otherwise, it is not accurate.

Cooperating with the bracket 26 is a clamping bolt is having a correspondingly arcuate head 30 adapted to clamp the racket oval 28 in the retaining segment 27, the lower end of said bolt From the foregoing description of the various 55 parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood.

As disclosed in Figure 1 a racket 25 has been illustrated. in clamped position and ready for stringingywhich operation is accomplished in the following manner:

First the handle 24 of the racket 25 is placed in the centering device 23. The width of the smallest tennis racket handle is greater than the width of the centering device 23. The jaws it and IE will therefore grip the handle when tightened down upon it. Next the chuck jaws l and it are adjusted to positions against opposite sides of the handle thus securely gripping the handle in place upon the centering device thereby centering the oval of the racket relative to the handle.

A score mark is arranged on the longitudinal center of the segment and when the racket oval 28 is positioned in the segment it may be accurately aligned by adjusting and centering the oval string holes 3 and 35 relative to the score mark above described. The horizontal pivoting of the jaws l5 and it permits this adjustment. This pivoting is permitted by the loose fit of the jaws l5 and it on their screw shanks H and 18. Figure 5 illustrates the play between the parts.

This play not only permits horizontal rocking of the jaws, but also permits a slight rocking about the axes of the screw shanks i7 and i8. Figured also shows a space between the bottom edges of the jaws and the bracket Hi. i l l The racket oval is then securely clamped place in the segment 21 by drawing up thenut 3i and retracting operation. l

'In threading the strings through the openings 3 1 and 35 in the oval it is necessary to racket oval slightly in a horizontal plane after is accomplished without loosing its alignment by virtue of the fact that the chuck jaws l5 and iii are tiltable relative to the base without in any way affecting The oval head 28 can be swung quite a distance to the right or left of the oval centering clamp i3 while the handle is still gripped by the jaws l5 and it. This permits stringing tobe passed through the central holes 34 and 35.

The base is made of metal and is slightly flexible so that it may flex slightly which flexing action is caused by the expanding or contracting of the racket oval while being strung, said base ,5, thus acting as an indicator to indicate whether or not the oval is being strung too tight. The longitudinal strings bend up the oval frame slightly and the pivoting of the jaws" i5 and it on the screws l1 and it permits this movement. The all metal base the metal oval centering clamp racket in position after the racket is once centered so'that abending or twisting of the racket frame is prevented during the stringing operation. The base 6 can be relatively thin because it is reinforced by the side beads 9 and 1%. In stringing the long strings, the frame is widened and thus slightly shortened in length. The base will flex slightly to permit this shortening the a racket which is too narrow can be widened to the desired extent and then clamped in place by the clamp 53. The flexed base constantly exerts a pressure on the head of the oval and will tend the class described, a base, a handle racket handle, the jaws cooperating with handle centering member, said chuck being tiltswingable about their the clamping head Silwhich clamps the racket oval in place for the stringing swing the from the clamp til and this their aligned clamping positions. l

portion 6, the metal chuck it, and

i3, holdcthe K 7. A chuck for within the scope of the appended claims without I departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim: it

1. In a device of the class described for holding and aligning a racket to be strung, a base, a chuck mounted on one end of said base and an oval clamp mounted on the opposite end to clamp and center the oval of the racket, a handle centering device cooperating with said chuck, said chuck having laterally adjustable jaws, said jaws being tiltable about their axes of lateral movement while in clamped position whereby the oval clamp may be released and the racket tilted upwardly without disturbing the alignment of the racket handle.

2. In a racket stringing and aligning device, a slightly flexible base, and means for clamping, aligning and centering'a racket on said base, whereby said base will flex slightly to indicate distortion whenstringing the longitudinal strings in theoval of the racket.

3. In a racket stringing and aligning device of centering member, a handle aligningchuckmounted on said base and including jaws movable toward the said able whenin clamping position, the jawsbeing axes of movement during the tilting, and an adjustable oval clamp mounted onthe opposite end of said base to. cause the centering 'of said ovaland the rigid clamping thereof in centered position after the chuck has gripped the racket handle.

4. In a device of the class described; a handle centeringand aligning chuck, said chuck having laterally adjustable and tiltable jaws adapted to grip and align a tennis racket handle, and a handle centering device cooperating therewith to center the handle while it is being securely gripped by the chuck jaws.

5. A clamp for gripping the oval portion of a tennis racket comprising a support having an \arcuate segment for contacting with the inner edge of a tennis racket head, and a clamping head cooperating withthe support and having a shank, the portion of the shank disposed adjacent to the racket head to be passed through the adjacent openings in the head.

6; A clamp iorgripping the oval portion of a tennis racket comprising a support for the oval and having an arcuate segment for contacting with the inner edge of a tennis racket head, and a clamping head for securing the racket headto the support, said clamping head having a shank witha non-circular portion,said support having a non-circular recess .for receiving the non-circular portion of the shank, whereby the shank is held against rotation and prevents lateral movement of the head on the support; K

holding a tennis racket handle and comprising a U-shapedlsuppoi't, screws carried by the legs of the support and being in alignment with respect to each other, and clamping jaws pivotally carried by said screws and having sufiicient play to permit swinging of the jaws into angular positions with respect to being reduced for lying between two string openings in the head for permitting a string the screws and support, said jaws being spaced a slight distance above the support for permitting a slight rotation of the jaws about the axes of the screws.

8. In combination, a slightly flexible metal base, a tiltable chuck carried by the base for clamping a tennis racket handle, a head clamp secured to the base and gripping the oval portion of the racket, said base being designed to flex slightly when the longitudinal strings are placed in the racket for yieldingly exerting a pull on the strings and oval, said chuck permitting a slight angular movement in a plane at right-angles to the base to accommodate for the flexing of the base.

9. In a device of the class described, a base element, a racket handle aligning chuck mounted on one end thereof and a racket oval clamp mounted on the opposite end thereof, a handle centering device cooperating with said chuck,

said chuck including chuck jaws, and means for adjusting said chuck jaws laterally relative to each other, said jaws also being tiltable about their axes of lateral movement into angular positions.

10. A clamp for gripping the oval portion of a tennis racket comprising a support for the racket oval, and having a portion contacting with the inner edge of a tennis racket head, a clamping head cooperating with the support and having a shank narrow enough in width to lie between two string openings in the racket head for permitting a string to be passed through the adjacent openings in the head, and means for pulling on the shank in the direction of its length for causing the clamping head to force the racket head against the support.

FILEMON T. LEE. ALEXANDER D. HENRY. 

